Speaker Series Continues with Roboticist, Inventor McLurkin

February 14, 2011

Rice University inventor, roboticist, and researcher Dr. James McLurkin will headline the continuing 2010-2011 Speaker Series at Lindenwood University at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 23 at the university’s Bezemes Family Theatre. Admission is free.

The Bezemes Family Theatre is located in Lindenwood’s J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, at 2300 West Clay St. in St. Charles, just west of First Capitol Drive.

McLurkin’s presentation, “The Future of Robotics and Swarm Robot Application,” will focus on original creations developed during his five-year post as Lead Researcher Scientist at iRobot, one of the world’s leading robotic companies.

As a child, McLurkin was constantly building with LEGO™ bricks, cardboard boxes, or any other materials he could access. Today, McLurkin continues this tradition. Using Mother Nature as a model, his core research is developing algorithms and techniques for constructing and programming large swarms of autonomous robots. Inspired by the behavior of ants and bees, the SwarmBots perform individual tasks that collectively contribute to the goals of the group.

Currently, he is a professor of computer science at Rice University. An expert on innovation, technology, and engineering, his highly-advanced research and innovations make McLurkin a captivating and engaging technology speaker.